Gianni Pittella, the leader of the second biggest group in the European Parliament, is off to Italy to run for the Senate. His fellow MEPs wish him luck.

Pittella’s decision to take leave from his position as president of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats has sparked a small outrage among members of the political groups.

The long-serving MEP is seen by many in his group as a loyal and friendly guy, but not necessarily a charismatic or effective leader. His decision to vie for a potentially lucrative national office in Italy — while retaining the option to return to Brussels should he fail when Italians go to the polls on March 4 — has caused some to question his credibility in his position.

“It doesn’t shock me that people who have political commitments would want to serve their country,” said Philippe Lamberts, a Belgian MEP and co-president of the Greens. “But Pittella has not shown a great capacity to obtain results and put Socialists at the center of the game.”

“Let’s not talk nonsense: A captain doesn’t leave his ship along the way, never" — Official from Pittella’s Socialist group in the European Parliament

Pittella, 59, has justified his decision to run for Italian office on the grounds that he would be “saving Europe” by running in southern Italy for Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni’s Democratic Party.

Doing so would allow him to contest a seat that would otherwise likely be won by a member of the Euroskeptic 5Star Movement. A victory for the Democratic Party there would increase the party’s chances of securing a “grand coalition” with former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia — seen by the European elite as the best possible outcome from the heavily contested election.

Pittella said it was time for him to “put at the disposal of my country … this capital of experience, competence and network that I have accumulated along the years.”

The trouble, for some in his group, is that Pittella has vociferously opposed a similar arrangement in the European Parliament. "By keeping his title of president of the group, he can't campaign for a wide coalition against Euroskeptic forces in Italy and oppose the grand coalition here," said Isabelle Thomas, a French MEP and one of the vice presidents of the group. The S&D had been in a grand coalition with the European People's Party but Pittella brought that to an end when he took over the leadership of the group from Martin Schulz, who left the assembly for German politics.

Ignazio Corrao, an Italian MEP from the 5Star Movement, told the Italian newspaper La Stampa on Thursday that “running away from Brussels is a typically Italian scandal which demonstrates the failure of this governing class.”

“Let’s not talk nonsense: A captain doesn’t leave his ship along the way, never,” said another official from Pittella’s group. “When you are an MEP, it is fine. But when you are the president, a Commission president or the rapporteur of an important text, it becomes problematic.”

Pittella's departure was discussed at a recent group meeting, in which MEPs announced that Udo Bullmann, a German vice president of the S&D, would take over the “transition phase” until Pittella resigns officially. If Pittella wins, he will resign and the group will elect a new leader.

German MEPs discussed the issue of Pittella’s departure at a meeting on Tuesday and “all MEPs were more or less fine with it,” another Parliament official said.

The European Parliament is replete with stories of MEPs quitting the assembly to run for national elections. Parliament sources say MEPs often use the Parliament as a stepping-stone to get elected in their countries. Other Italian MEPs have also declared they would run in Italy's upcoming election, including Matteo Salvini, the leader of the Euroskeptic Northern League, and Raffaele Fitto, a member of Berlusconi’s conservative Forza Italia.

A Parliament official said that Italian MEPs spent the last three months “racing” to Italy “because they all wanted to get their names on the lists.” The official noted that Italian parliamentarians enjoy some of the highest salaries in Europe.

“Italy, like France, sees a career in the Parliament as a temporary exile to go back to national politics,” said Green MEP Lamberts. “It gives the impression that politicians make a career by jumping from a seat to another.”

Last week, Berlusconi floated the possibility of making another Italian MEP and current president of the Parliament, Antonio Tajani, prime minister. Tajani has repeatedly said he’s not interested in the job.

On Thursday, Pittella brushed off any criticism about his own personal ambition, telling POLITICO he had “a record of 19 years of very intense activity and great passionate work” in the Parliament.

“Nobody can say I didn’t care about Europe,” he added.

He concluded his press conference on Thursday by telling journalists: “Guys, this is not a farewell, it’s a ‘see you soon!’”